


rewind for a moment

by machellex



Series: this is how it goes [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, but not quite really, prologue of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 15:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10879431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machellex/pseuds/machellex
Summary: In no way would Cassian call himself a stalker, but he won’t deny that he was rather keenly aware of Jyn Erso’s presence before she was aware of his.At least, he won’t deny it tohimself. IfJynasks, the first time he met and/or saw her was definitely when she accidentally TP’d his house.In reality, here’s how it really starts----Or: the one before Jyn TP's Cassian's house





	rewind for a moment

**Author's Note:**

> kind of a prologue to the ["this is how it goes"](https://archiveofourown.org/series/671474) series  
> but you kinda need to have read everything else bc it's more of a part 3 prologue than it is a standalone prologue
> 
> i apologize bc it's a little rough i have an essay due tmrrw but i got super distracted (ofc hahaha rip) enjoy :3

In no way would Cassian call himself a stalker, but he won’t deny that he was rather keenly aware of Jyn Erso’s presence before she was aware of his. 

At least, he won’t deny it to _himself_. If _Jyn_ asks, the first time he met and/or saw her was definitely when she accidentally TP’d his house. 

In reality, here’s how it _really_ starts:

Two months prior to the whole debacle, Cassian first sees a glance of Jyn at Rogue One for a simple split second. And in all honesty, he wouldn’t have noticed her except for the fact that she’s arguing with his good friend Luke Skywalker, and no one really argues with Luke. Luke is guaranteed an all-around optimistic fellow and just isn’t the sort to badger himself with disagreeable banter. Plus, how is it possible for them to get into an argument when Luke’s only task was to pay at the register before the two of them could bust it back to their respective jobs after lunch break?

So Cassian has to shift himself out of the booth to check out the issue because he can’t just leave Luke _hanging_. But as soon as he’s less than a foot away, the short brunette whips her head with a menacing glower that causes Cassian to almost double take. 

He pauses.

Then blinks before his hand’s tapping at Luke’s elbow. “Everything okay?” 

The girl spins on him, teeth baring viciously, “Tell Skywalker to stop following me to work.” 

And then she’s barreling back through the kitchen doors, and all Cassian can do is watch it furiously swing back shut. His mouth almost drops open because though he deals with criminals on a daily basis—it’s his _job_ —he doesn’t deal with inconceivably rude people outside of work. At least, not very often. He grinds his teeth shut before raising a brow at his friend. 

Luke looks worn in a way Cassian’s never seen him.

Both hands lift in surrender. 

“Long story,” Luke says in a tired voice. But in a matter of seconds, his features are replaced with an eagerness that is often akin to Luke, and everything instantly seems back to normal. “Ready to get back to work, chap?”

Which is how, when he sees her the _next_ time in an argument with his neighbor, Cassian immediately places her as “that girl who argued with Luke in the diner.” 

Otherwise now dubbed as Angry Small Girl. 

Cassian usually turns a blind eye to his neighbor’s antics and arguments (there is, for some reason, a lot of this when it comes to Han), but it is incredibly hard to ignore the screaming when he’s already accidentally at his mailbox, and Han and Angry Small Girl are out on the lawn directly across the grass.

The arguing continues.

He glances over for a second before quickly averting his gaze, and in that moment, he swears to God that she’s about to hurdle one of Han’s gnarly gnomes at the window (Cassian’s always hated that goddamn thing. It is _creepy,_ and he’d be pleased to know it would be gone forever.) Of course, that would probably mean destruction of property, and he may or may not be inclined to go over and arrest her. 

Depending on Han, of course—he’s never really liked the fellow anyhow so the inclination to arrest the girl is really… slim. Although still there. 

“I don’t need this from you, Jyn,” Han says gruffly as he rubs at his temples. _Jyn_ , Cassian can’t help but think. So this is Angry Small Girl’s name. “I get enough of it from Leia, thank you very much.”

“Clearly not enough,” she replies stiffly, arms folding over her chest. “Otherwise I wouldn’t _be_ here, telling you _again._ Get your shit with Leia fixed because she’s bothering _me_ , and you know I _hate_ being bothered. Skywalker visited me at work the other day if that says anything—”

And because Cassian would consider himself a decent guy—decent enough not to sniff his nose where it doesn’t belong, he spins on his heels and heads back into his house, pretending to be interested in the envelopes in his hand. 

He is, however, far more interested in the angry girl currently next door (at the moment, he doesn’t know why. Irrationally angry people have always mystified him. He doesn’t get people who are so vocally angry _all the time_.)

The third time, it’s late at night, and she must have mistaken his house for Han’s (he has no idea _how;_ it’s not that easily mistakable) because there’s a knock at the door, and Cassian never really has visitors this late. He swings the door open, and the girl barrels through and opens her mouth before he gets a chance to say anything at all.

“Han, how could—”

Cassian licks his lips and coughs, and suddenly her jaw shuts, her big green eyes staring up at him in confusion. Then around at his empty white walls. He can’t tell if he’s more surprised or if she is.

“Ah, shit,” she curses under her breath. “Sorry, wrong house. I have terrible night vision.”

She says this so briskly, like what had happened was so _normal_ , before she’s waltzing next door. He hardly has time to process it before he’s nodding numbly. 

(He’ll remember this moment later when he realizes Jyn has TP’d the wrong house, and that he’s not so surprised that she had made such a simple mistake given her record.)

He’s walking past his window when he sees her the fourth time out in Han’s backyard, legs crossed underneath her with a beer in hand. She’s with him and a girl Cassian is pretty sure is Han’s girlfriend and Skywalker and—and she’s _smiling._

Cassian almost stops at the sight of it. Which is utterly fucking _ridiculous_. He’s just not the sort. But to see Angry Small Girl look like Happy Small Girl is a complete 180 change he just hadn’t quite expected.

The rational side of Cassian tells him he’s not making any sense. He can hear it in Kay’s voice, quantifying his illogical emotions. And Cassian is fully aware. Still, he can’t help himself when his lips quirk at the sight of her smile.

Five or six times later, they have still officially never met. 

All Cassian has been able to deduce is that her name is Jyn, her best friend or some sort (Leia, he thinks is her name) is dating his quite infuriating neighbor, and that her best friend is somehow tied to Luke Skywalker though Cassian has never asked Luke himself. He is fully aware that Leia and Han fight all the time, and that Jyn only just a bit moreso. With everyone.

And that she clearly meets up to the nickname he has deemed her—Angry Small Girl.

So when Cassian finally officially meets Jyn Erso for the very first time, he is not at all surprised that she is one, throwing toilet paper on his house to avenge her best friend for whatever fucked up thing Han did this time, and two, that she got the wrong house. 

But the _strangest_ thing is that he is not at all surprised at himself when he comes to Jyn’s defenses and pretends she is his girlfriend. 

Because if he was being honest with himself or anybody at all, he would point out that he clearly has some infatuation with the Angry Small Girl that is Jyn Erso. And that she has piqued his interest in some way, and he would very much like to just sit down in a coffee shop and talk with her. And get to know her. Or _anything_ , really. 

Which is how Cassian finds himself seated in a dimly lit coffee shop with Jyn tersely across the red booth, their night ending on a note far more positive than what had been the failure of an awards ceremony. Two steaming cups sit between them, and he waits for her to wrap her hands around a mug before taking his own. 

“What?” she asks snarkily as she catches his eye.

Cassian can only grin slightly before shaking his head. “Nothing.”

“Yeah, right,” she mutters before blowing on the cup and taking a sip, both hands curling around the glass cup. 

“I’m just glad I’m redeeming my cup of coffee,” he says nonchalantly. 

“It’s just a cup of coffee.”

“Maybe.”

In reality, it is so much more.

But Cassian won’t say that. 

**Author's Note:**

> [@ma-chelle](http://ma-chelle.tumblr.com/)
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> i had this in mind as i was writing "maybe with a cup of coffee" b/c cassian was so very obviously infatuated with her, and it didn't make sense to me for him to be infatuated with her based off of that one TP incident. i was like... there's gotta be more but how & where... and so this came to fruition!!! see how you get my wip thought process hahaha anyway gg rip back to my essay


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